


i never knew it could be sweet

by thegirl_APstories (orphan_account)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Affairs, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Falling In Love, Love, Multi, Older Man/Younger Woman, Pain, Scars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 05:22:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20540795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/thegirl_APstories
Summary: Sansa Stark hasn't known love since she was eleven, before her parents had been killed in a car crash and being separated from her siblings... she has come to accept love is meant to painful and cruel, never sweet; at least until she runs, literally, into a stranger.“Catelyn?” He knew that the young girl couldn’t possibly be Catelyn Tully, Catelyn would be a grown woman, most likely with bits of grey mingling within her unforgettable red hair by now, but he couldn’t stop the word from slipping off his tongue.“Um… no? Catelyn was my mom… who are you?” She had cocked her head slightly to the side and now he could clearly see that while she wasn’t Catelyn, she looked like a replica of his childhood sweetheart, the same aqua blue eyes and pale skin, her hair pin straight and falling easily around her thin, tall frame… in fact, upon further inspection, he found the girl to be prettier than Catelyn had ever been.





	i never knew it could be sweet

Sansa was only twenty-two, most girls her age were getting blitzed at the hottest bar or club, sleeping with the cute boy who bought them drinks and generally living very carefree, she wasn’t so lucky. Sansa couldn’t remember the last time she had been carefree, in fact, most of her life had been fraught with anguish, tears and loneliness; both her parents had died when she was just eleven year olds and she’d been separated from her siblings, she was the only girl in a family full of boys or in Arya’s case, tomboy, and while Uncle Edmure had been eager to take in her rowdy siblings, he didn’t think himself fit enough to care for a young lady… he was a bachelor after all, what did he know about raising a girl who liked pink, dolls and fairy tales?

Instead, she’d been sent two states away to Aunt Lysa, a woman who looked like an uglier version of her mother and was far colder than Catelyn Stark ever was… Aunt Lysa had hated Sansa the moment she laid her watery, blue eyes on Sansa’s tall, thin, eleven-year-old frame; Aunt Lysa said Sansa was as pretty and spoiled as Catelyn had been, she taken it upon herself to try and slap the pretty off Sansa’s face, to no avail. After awhile, Aunt Lysa began to just ignoring Sansa at all cost, focusing her attention on her annoying, needy and precious son, Robin, and Sansa was left alone to try and mourn her parents, but Sansa had never dealt with death in her little life nor had she been away from her siblings for longer than a night or two.

Sansa wouldn’t see her siblings again till she was seventeen and by then, she had missed too much of their lives and they’d missed too much of hers, Robb had grown handsome and was determined to become a lawyer, with shy and pretty Roslin Frey attached at his arm, Arya was captain of the wrestling team and miraculously found a boyfriend, Gendry Waters was the size of a bull and had heart eyes for her little sister, Bran was planning on attending university early for computer science and little Rickon wasn’t so little anymore and he didn’t even remember her.

By the time she left high school and began attending university herself, she had been under the impression her life would suddenly flourish, she was dating the most handsome boy at King’s University, Joffrey Baratheon was a vision out of her childhood fairytales. Tall, golden and handsome, it had taken little to make her fall madly for him, he was the first person who had held her and whispered loving words in her ear in seven years and she would’ve done anything for him; so it made no difference to her that he would occasionally grab her arm a little too hard or sneer at her whenever she asked a stupid question, he certainly hadn’t meant to shove her into the wall during an argument and she _didn’t_ flinch every time he would yell at her or raise a hand.

Eventually his cruelty became routine, she had spent years being hit by Aunt Lysa and this was no different, at least this time Joffrey would always apologize afterwards and kiss the tears off her cheeks whenever she cried in pain or fear… Sansa told herself she was lucky to have someone like him and that she needed to stop being so critical of him and just do as he said. Sansa was desperate for love and she would take any she could get, she hadn’t known sweet love since she was just a child and she didn’t need it anymore… at least that’s what she told herself whenever she laid down in bed, the lights all off and a new bruise forming somewhere, Joffrey’s love was something and she would take anything he was willing to give.

~~~

Petyr Baelish had taken the Psychology job at King’s University more so out of boredom than anything, he had no need for the somewhat meager salary since he had more money than he knew what to do with… great investments and knowing just the right people meant he was richer beyond his wildest dreams. Eventually though, lounging about and doing nothing with your days became boring and Petyr had always needed stimulation in his life, and when he heard that the Psychology department at his alma mater was hiring, he had said ‘_why not?_’.

Most students were either stupid, lazy or a combination of both… the few students who took it upon themselves to constantly raise their hand and answer his questions were smug or just enjoyed hearing themselves talk, thinking they were the smartest person in the room, but no student could outwit or outsmart him, Petyr was insanely smart and he relished in knowing he was always the brightest in a room. After two years of teaching, he was contemplating quitting and finding something else, maybe he could start investing in clubs? There was plenty surrounding the University and he could make easy money off the constant stream of drunk college students wishing to prove themselves or wishing to end up in the hospital, having their stomachs pumped from attempting to outdrink their friends.

That was his current train of thought as he walked through one of the University buildings, on his way to teach his senior students, when he found himself colliding into another body and sending them sprawling across the floor, he let out a silent sigh of annoyance as he bent down to help the person up, knowing he was now going to be late. He had only meant to help the person up, offer a smooth apology before hurrying off to his classroom, but he felt an uneasy feeling settle in the pit of his stomach upon glancing down and catching sight of familiar, coppery colored hair… the world was filled with red heads, but this particular shade of red was unique and he had only seen it on one other person in his whole life and that had been decades ago, when he was boy utterly in love with a girl who would never be his.

That uneasy feeling turned to confusion as the face of the person glanced up with a sheepish smile and grasped his outstretched hand, he felt certain he was staring into the face of a ghost… a ghost from his past that he never expected to see again.

“Catelyn?” He knew that the young girl couldn’t possibly be Catelyn Tully, Catelyn would be a grown woman, most likely with bits of grey mingling within her unforgettable red hair by now, but he couldn’t stop the word from slipping off his tongue.

The girl flushed, hurrying to stand and gather her bag that had slipped off her small shoulders, she was dressed rather plainly and her face was free of any makeup, a rarity around campus since most of the girls seemed to cake on makeup as they flounced around campus… he swore he would never understand certain women.

“Ugh… no? Catelyn was my mom, though… who are you?” She had cocked her head slightly to the side and now he could clearly see that while she wasn’t Catelyn, she looked like a replica of his childhood sweetheart, the same aqua blue eyes and pale skin, her hair pin straight and falling easily around her thin, tall frame… in fact, upon further inspection, he found the girl to be prettier than Catelyn had ever been.

“Apologies, for the mix up and knocking you over.” They both let out small, sheepish laughs at that. “I’m Petyr Baelish, a psychology professor here… I knew your mother back when we were children, we actually grew up together.” The girl’s eyes widened at the information and she offered him a bright smile, her teeth were a gleaming white and straight, her lips a pretty shade of pink and full… quite kissable actually.

“Oh! I don’t recall my mother ever mentioning you… then again she had her hands pretty full when I was young. And don’t worry about knocking me over, frankly I wasn’t paying any attention and was the one who almost blew through you.”

He switched his leather briefcase into his other hand, finding it hard to not openly stare at the girl in utter wonder. He cleared his throat and forced himself to focus, he had been a daydreamer since he was greenboy and it certainly wasn’t going to start now.

“So how has you mother been? I haven’t seen her since we were… oh gosh, twelve or thirteen? I moved away and we never got the chance to run into each other again.” Her face dropped a fraction, her fingers flexing on the strap of her bag as her eyes flickered away from my own before looking back up in what I assumed was pity and a muted sadness.

“My mom actually died a couple years ago, I was eleven… her and my father got into a car accident.” It was like a punch to my gut, sure I hadn’t thought of Cat in some years, but she had been a huge part of my life and I had always assumed she was off somewhere, happily married with a home full of children.

“I-I’m so sorry… that’s a terrible thing to have happen, especially so young.” She nodded, both of us growing somewhat awkward at the unexpected turn of events and I found myself unable to stop glancing at her… she was prettier than should be allowed.

“Thank you… well I have to head out, my next class starts in about five minutes or so and I hate to be late.” I nodded with understanding, just now remembering I had my own class to teach and stepped aside as she began to continue down the relatively empty corridor.

“Of course, it was nice to meet you, I hope to see you around campus again.” She waved and sent a smile over her shoulder as I stood, watching her until she had disappeared around a corner.

I sighed heavily and turned on the ball of my foot and began to hurry off to my own class, the students likely to be squirming and sighing in annoyance at me being late, but frankly I didn’t care; my mind was still lingering on the conversation and more so on the girl’s unforgettable smile… I was determined to find her again and hopefully have a longer conversation.

It was in the middle of these thoughts that it dawned on me… I hadn’t even gotten the girls name.

**Author's Note:**

> A fun story I had the feeling to write, it will be a rather short story with some good incite into a modern day Sansa, still separated from her family, prone to bad luck and with a jaded understanding of what love is meant to be. Hope you guys enjoy since I don't often write Sansa/Petyr, leaving a kudo and comment, letting me know what you think and how you're liking it so far!
> 
> With love <3


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